Letter from the Editor
December • January 2016-2017
Of all the business stories we tell, one of my favorite themes is the concept of reuse: taking raw materials that others rejected and finding a new way to use them. It requires vision, ingenuity and creativity.
That’s why I found this issue’s cover story so appealing. It bothered Jud Scott that thousands of trees
that had succumbed to the ravages of the Emerald Ash Borer were being trashed. He figured there
must be way to put that valuable hardwood to use. So he started harvesting it and is now turning it into
locally sourced furniture.
It took similar vision at White River Campground in Cicero, where Hamilton County Parks recently unveiled three new bridges across the White
River to Koteewi Park. Well, they’re new to Hamilton County, but two of
the bridges were salvaged from Washington and Wayne counties and the
third was reconstructed from 100 year old plans.

Mike Corbett
Editor and Publisher

These are beautiful examples of turn of the 20th Century engineering technology and serve to remind
us of our heritage while providing a useful passage between two parks. INDOT saves these old bridges
until enterprising people can find new uses for them. The county parks department did just that, and
offers a great example of how some creativity and initiative can enhance the quality of life here.

Grain elevator in mid-demolition

Of course, we sometimes fail to muster the required initiative as well. You
may recall the 100+ year old grain elevator in Noblesville that ceased
operation a couple of years ago. It’s now an empty lot and all that lumber
from our native trees was sold to people in other parts of the world, who
saw value in it that we didn’t. It’s a shame we let that go. I know we can’t
save everything but it’s disappointing that a structure that played such
an important part in Noblesville’s history is now just a memory with no
reminder that it was even there. I’m told some of the limestone from the
foundation will find its way to the new park downtown.

Event Updates
Earlier this year I announced a variation on our Hamilton County Home Show for next year that I
thought showed a lot of promise. A friend suggested we add pets to the mix to differentiate ourselves
and expand the audience. I’m sorry to report that after several months of trying we were unable to recruit a critical mass of pet vendors to complement our home improvement vendors, so we’re calling off
the Home and Pet Show for now. I thank the vendors who stepped up but I think we’re all better off cutting our losses now. We don’t want to present a mediocre show. All who paid will receive full refunds.
We’re also retiring Business Spotlight, the monthly networking event at the Fishers Hilton Garden Inn
co-sponsored by this magazine. We love to promote local business and the monthly events were going
well, but it was a logistical challenge for coordinator Roxanne Leija, who was doing all the heavy lifting.
We made some great contacts there so maybe we can revive something new in the future.
A final note: Harold Kaiser died in November at 96. Harold was an early subscriber to this magazine
and provided encouragement when I needed it most. He was a small-town boy from Cicero who saw
incredible change in Hamilton County and left his mark on the real estate industry here. OneZone’s
Lifetime Achievement Award for Carmel is named after him and rightly so.
See you around the county,

Editor and Publisher
mcorbett@hamiltoncountybusiness.com
317-774-7747

6

December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

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Management

Charles Waldo

What Are Your CSFs?
Are you measuring what really counts?
Years ago, when just out of Saint Louis University’s B-School, I
worked for a mid-sized, publicly-traded company in St. Louis.
My desk happened to be near the office of the president, an
imposing, rather gruff character. He had the habit, when walking through the building, of randomly stopping at an employee’s desk to ask “What was yesterday’s stock price close? Was it
up or down from the day before?”

I don’t believe anyone ever got fired for not knowing the
answers but they did get “the look.” Employees (including
me!) were terrified of being asked and not knowing so most
everyone kept their eyes focused
on these two figures. The
president even had
bulletin boards all
over the building with the
two figures
updated every
morning, so I
asked my boss, a
division general
manager, why the
president did that.
He said the president
felt the most common corporate performance denominator all employees could relate
to was the stock’s daily price. He wanted all eyes focused on it
all the time. One could argue about the validity of his view but
the daily stock price was THE primary Critical Success Factor (CSF) for him and, therefore, for us. At my initial low level
entry position I had almost no effect on the stock’s price but,
nevertheless, was focused on it. As time passed and promotions came I saw the potential usefulness of CSFs, came up
with several for my units, and tried to get all eyes trained on
them. They seemed to work.

• While most organizations typically use many performance
measurements, CSFs should be limited to a relatively few (3 –
7) so all eyes can be constantly focused on them.

How about you? Do you have Critical Success Factors that you
focus on constantly? What are the “make it or break it” results
for your organization? For your part in it? What about for your
personal life? What spells “success?”

5. Customer suggestions for improving their happiness
(they usually see things from a different perspective
than management)

Characteristics of a critical
success factor
• It’s a collective performance factor or result that is extremely
important to organization success. Perhaps even a “make it or
break it” result.
8

• The CSF is understood and its importance widely recognized
by employees.
• It does not track or identify individual employee’s performance.

• The organization must be able to affect its CSFs. For
example, the organization might be strongly
affected by macro-economic trends such
as the Gross National Product but probably can’t do anything to alter the GNP.
Customer repeat visit frequency or
product defect rates would be CSFs
the organization can affect.

An example
Let’s look at what CSFs might be
appropriate for a sit-down restaurant and how they could be measured.
I’ve never run a restaurant but have eaten in
many. These CSFs seem almost self-evident:
1. Sales volume and trends (easily tracked by receipts)
2. Increase in size of the average bill, especially with high
profit, add-on items (servers make bigger tips and the
restaurant’s volume and profitability probably rises)
3. Customer repeat visit rate (the lifeblood for most
organizations)
4. Customer happiness rating (happy customers are likely
to return and tell others)

One way to get the # 3, 4, & 5 CSF’s data
Print a half page card which servers hand to customers with
their bills, asking them politely to fill it out and leave at the
table or turn in to the hostess or cashier. Provide a nice (but inexpensive) pen with the restaurant’s name on it as a thank-you
for completing the survey (everyone likes to get something for
December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

free). Maybe also give a coupon good for a
freebie when they return…. non-alcoholic
drinks; desserts; a 10% discount; kids eat
free; etc.
Ask:
Dear guest(s):
We appreciate your dining with us today.
So we can serve you better, would you
please answer the following questions?
Leave the card at the table or give it to
the hostess. Please keep the pen and gift
coupon as our thank-you. Thanks, have a
great day, and we look forward to seeing
you again soon.

For example, assume question 1 showed
that, in a two week period, 20% of customers were repeaters. Perhaps set a goal of
30% in three months. Then develop tactics
and strategies that might accomplish that
target. Measure results.
One of the first rules of effective management is prioritizing goals and issues, with
the most important ones first. That’s what
Critical Success Factors are: Determining
then measuring on an on-going basis the
relatively few REALLY important factors
vital to organization success. All per-

formance factors are not created equal,
with the “80-20 Rule” valid in many
cases. Now put your numbers and focus
improvement efforts where they count
the most.
Good luck. HCBM

Charles Waldo, Ph.D. is Professor of
Marketing (ret.) of Anderson University’s
Falls School of Business. He lives in
Indianapolis and can be reached at
cnwaldo@comcast.net.

What are
the “make it
or break it”
results for your
organization?
2. All things considered, using a scale of
10 to 0 where 10 is Very Happy and 0
is Miserably Unhappy, how happy are
you with today’s experience with us?
______ (measures customer satisfaction)
3. What suggestions do you have that
would have made today’s visit Happier? (Get customers’ ideas)
4. If you will give us your name and
email address we will be happy to send
you periodic notifications of specials
and fun events. (Obviously, the restaurant must have social media marketing capabilities and offer specials.)

Aggregating customer responses
It should be fairly quick and easy for the
manager or a designated employee to tally
up each day’s totals for each question.
Use simple charts or numerical listings
to share with employees. Nothing fancy.
December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

9

Technology
Michael Bauman

Stepping into the New Year
What to look for in fitness devices
As the snow begins to fall and the world wraps itself up in a
blanket with some hot chocolate by the crackling fire, thoughts
begin to turn to Christmas, carols, and presents. With January,
and the lines of people with their signed New Years Resolutions in hand right around the corner, you might have considered looking at some of the fitness devices that are out there as
a stocking stuffer or a gift for a friend. But with all the options
to choose from, how do you know what will fit their style and
preference? Here are some factors to consider.

All day vs training
Any tool that can be used for motivation or to
help facilitate more movement throughout the
day is a “step” in the right direction. But what
should you look for in a fitness device? It really
depends on what you are using it for and what
you want to track.
There are two main types of fitness devices: the all
day trackers (for general fitness and health) and the
training trackers (primarily for training for a specific event
or sport). Most fitness devices track steps, stairs, calories, and
quality of sleep. The training trackers do all of the above but
also typically include your heart rate, and have GPS features
to give you data about distance, speed, pace, and your route.
They are usually waterproof, and sync with your smartphone
to show texts, calls, and emails.

during exercise. Many of my clients would come in with fitness devices on their arms that tracked heart rate and I was
always curious to see how accurate they would be at different
intensities compared with our measurements. Most of them
performed within 3-5 beats per minute while walking or slow
jogging. But when it came to the higher intensities the deviations and errors became quite pronounced. A lot of the fitness
devices were unable to pick up the heart
rate or their tracking would fluctuate
from 90bpms to 170bpms as the
devices struggled to get a reading. Fitness devices that pick
up the heart rate through
a chest strap as opposed
to the wrist are more accurate, but let’s be honest,
who wants to strap a band
around their chest while they
are exercising?

Pricing and error rates

Our very own Channel 13 WTHR news team came to similar
conclusions when they brought a Fitbit Charge HR, a Fitbit
Zip, a Jawbone UP3, a Garmin Vivosmart HR, an iFit Vue,
and a Misfit Flash to Ball State’s Exercise Physiology lab. After
performing a series of tests all of them performed within 2-3%
on steps but the distance measurement could be off by 14%,
Style and size are also important. What lady wants to be wearthe caloric burn was overestimated by 30-40%, and there was
ing a brick around her
between a 10-14% error in the heart rate
wrist while she could
readings. So keep that in mind when you
be wearing the sleek,
are wanting that extra Christmas sugar
stylish, Fitbit Alta and
cookie.
…when it came to the higher
stepping out of a sports
Overall, I have found that Garmin prodcar in high heels? You
intensities the deviations and
ucts
like Vivofit ($99) and Vivosmart
should also make sure
HR+
($199) are usually more accurate
the display is easy to
errors became quite pronounced. than Fitbit. But the Fitbit Flex 2 ($99)
read, check the battery
and Fitbit Charge 2 ($149) also typilife, how often you have
cally perform quite well. For style, the
to charge it, and always
FitBit
Alta ($129) definitely takes the cake
check the compatibility with your phone.
and for screen resolution, quality, and features the Samsung
While most fitness devices are quite accurate when tracking
Gearfit 2 ($179) is at the top of the list. So decide what you
steps, unless the steps are from household chores or other
want to track and how you want to look and rock your fitness
activities where the movement is not quite as linear, you may
style into the new year! HCBM
want to take the heart rate and calorie readings with a grain
of salt. I have spent years in the health and fitness industry
as a personal trainer and Assistant Department Head of a
Lifetime Fitness gym facility and have performed hundreds
Michael Bauman is CEO of Thrive Culture, a local online habitof heart rate assessments analyzing people’s metabolisms
based nutrition coaching company.
10

December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

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he death and disposal of area trees led to an unexpected
silver-lining for one local business.
Vine and Branch, Inc. in Carmel specializing in tree care and
arborist services, recently expanded its business to include creating custom, heirloom-quality furniture and rough-hewn benches
for nature centers in Hamilton County. The company anticipates further
growth as word gets out that trees lost to pests, disease or age can have a purpose
beyond death.
“I have always been interested in reusing wood, and frankly have felt bad when
beautiful wood went into the firewood pile,” said Jud Scott, founder and president
of Vine and Branch. A combination of inspiration from a client clearing property
and a suggestion from his daughter led Scott to explore the possibilities of creating works of art from the trees typically hauled off and forgotten.
“My daughter sent me some pictures of live-edge slab tables and log-end tables,
and said ‘Dad, you need to do this!’ About the same time, a couple of Vine and
12

Reclaimed black walnut stump from bottom of a
local reservoir.

December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Branch employees suggested we get rid
of these clunky fiberboard desks and
make some desks ourselves,” Scott recalls.
“Thus, the idea was born.”

Indestructable
The devastation from the Emerald Ash
Borer, a pest blamed for the death of millions of ash trees in America in the past
decade and a half, results in costly tree
removals and sometimes empty property.
Owners now have an option to reuse that
valuable wood, and some municipalities
have put to good use trees felled by pests.
“There’s an international effort to reclaim urban wood for products,” Scott
said. “It is a great way to memorialize
trees that have sentimental value, or to
just repurpose a resource that would
otherwise be lost.”

Bookmatched black cherry coffee table on sled
runners.

Danesa Stolz, chief naturalist for Fishers
Parks and Recreation, was approached by
Scott to see if the city was interested in
incorporating benches made from the ash
trees into the landscape at Ritchey Woods
Nature Preserve.
“Jud and I sought sponsors for the
benches. Ritchey Woods Nature Preserve
currently has five benches,” Stolz said, noting that the first benches were installed
in October 2015. The wood used in the
benches, however, came from Hamilton
and Marion counties, not the park. “Since
Ritchey Woods is a nature preserve, trees
that fall naturally or need to be cut due to
safety reasons remain on site.”

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The rustic beam benches from felled ash
trees also dot Cool Creek Nature Center,
in Westfield, and can also be found in
Strawtown Koteewi Park in Noblesville.
The benches were installed through
partnerships.
continues on next page

#43600 SBL IBBMerger_HC4.96x4.96.indd
December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business
Magazine

1

13

10/24/16 4:58 PM

“A dream I have is to find donors
for wood projects,” Scott said. “A
lot of parks departments, a couple
of schools and not-for-profits have
expressed interest, but in the end,
do not have the funds for wood
projects.”

“Hamilton County Parks and
Recreation joined with IU Health
for their annual community improvement initiative, Day of Service,” according to Don Nicholls,
Resource Development Specialist
with Hamilton County Parks and
Recreation. “Through this partnership, IU health donated the
benches, which serve as a focal
point of the nature play areas.”

Stolz agrees. “More benches would
be great. This is a great opportunity for visitors to sponsor a bench.”

Edge Adventures, who operates
the Aerial Adventure Treetop
Trails course at Strawtown Koteewi Park,
installed similar benches. Nicholls hopes
this is only the beginning for the benches.

Spalted American beech tiered coffee table

Memorials and sponsorships

public shopping on the company’s online
furniture store. Holder Mattress, at the
Indiana Design Center in Carmel, carries
Vine and Branch-created pieces. End
tables, dining tables, lamps and conversation pieces, crafted from various species
of wood, sometimes combined with other
elements such as glass, offer beautiful,
unique options to typical mass-produced
home furnishings.

Scott’s customers range from builders,
woodworkers, interior designers and the

However, his business vision doesn’t
stop there.

“Due to their nearly indestructible
make-up, they provide the added benefit
of requiring little to no maintenance. Because this department’s mission includes
a commitment to nature stewardship,
we are pleased that they are repurposed
felled ash trees,” Nicholls added.

Likewise, Nicholls hopes for an
expansion of this collaboration. “If
they (the benches) are introduced
in some of our other county parks, we’ll
also consider offering them as dedication
and memorial opportunities to the public.
Truly a win-win-win park amenity.”
Scott hopes more property owners will
decide to bring back home, in a new
incarnation, the tree they’ve had to part
with. “We do have a couple of projects
brewing that involved removal of trees,
that involved some family discussion,
and the answer was to remove the tree
but make a rustic bench out of it for
future generations.” HCBM

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Three Hamilton County Locations:
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7126 East 116th Street
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14

Noblesville

16940 Clover Road
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Sheridan

987 South White Avenue
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December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Profile

Story and photos by Jane Willis Gardner

ime never stands still for Clark, Sharon, and
Tony Van Tassel, owners of the nearly 50-year
old Clock Company, now located in Noblesville. Take
one step inside the stately three-story building at the
edge of the city’s Historic District, and you’ll discover
a unique retail showroom whose vast array of elegant,
unique clocks render it part museum.
In keeping with the third-generation,
family-owned feel of the place, you might
be greeted by one of the Van Tassel’s
friendly canines, Layla or Bailey. And as
you chat with one of the owners about
the history, make, and model of any of the
store’s inventory, you might hear a grandfather clock sound the Westminster chime,
a cuckoo clock mark the hour, or another
timepiece finish the melody of “Love Me
Tender.”

Noblesville Clock Company

“This company was an ‘accidental’ outgrowth of my late father’s furniture business, started in Muncie,” says Clark. A few
years into the business, his father, Lance,
displayed 5 grandfather clocks in the
furniture store that began to garner lots of
customer attention.

Clark, who’d studied mechanical engineering at Purdue, also took a
special liking to the clocks. “My first Christmas season, I convinced Dad
to put all 5 grandfather clocks in the entrance as a special gallery. We
sold 12 that holiday. The next Christmas, it was 25. And what happened
from there, over a number of years and a change of location, is what
you see here.”
“With the marked increase in clock sales, customers assumed we did
clock repair also,” Clark continues. Dedicated to keeping their customers happy, the Van Tassel’s committed themselves to that side of the
business. “I started tinkering with the clocks and thought ‘wow,’ this is
kind of neat.”

National reputation
The clock aficionado and renowned repairman got his start fixing
clocks with the help of a few books from a home-study course. His
December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

A clock mechanism in the downstairs workshop.

15

patience and keen mental bent to make
a clock tick, chime, or chirp again soon
became legendary—with customers
from as far away as Maine seeking
his expertise.
And his acumen for keeping the business
alive and well is what prompted him 20
years ago to bring the “furniture-storeturned-clock-business” from Muncie to
Noblesville, to its coveted location on the
corner of 10th and Conner Street.
It’s not just Clark and his wife, Sharon,
who have the love of clocks in their
blood. Their son, Tony, who began toying
with clocks as a teenager has never met
a timepiece problem that he couldn’t
tackle—nor a clock about which he can’t
talk a wonderfully interesting blue streak.
Tony recalls the “stubbornness” of one
particular grandfather clock whose
chimes were all out of kilter. “I worked
and worked on it for days” he remembers. Finally, the answer came to him
in the middle of the night. “This stuff
becomes natural,” he says.
A trip to the showroom’s basement repair
room makes his comment an understatement. Hundreds of clocks of every make,
shape, color and size in various stages
of re-assembly claim the walls, aisles,
tables, and chairs. “We repair about
1,000 clocks a year,” Tony estimates. He
enthusiastically explains just a few of the
thousand parts scattered categorically

Tony and Clark Van Tassel

along a double-wide, 15-foot workbench
with 12 work stations.
There are bushings, cleaning tanks, drill
presses, chime hammers, chime rods,
cable drives, chain drives, wooden works,
metal works, …intricate parts waiting to
fit back into just the right spot. Clark and
Tony share the responsibility of in-shop
and home visit repair calls, now the
mainstay of the business.

50 Year anniversary
Sharon credits the longevity and success
of the family business with the fact that
each person has a distinct, but interrelated role. “I keep the books and I work
hard to make our customers feel like
friends who can come and chat for as
long as they like, whether they want a
clock or not. We believe in the old-fashioned, hometown way of doing business,”
she says.
The Van Tassel’s showroom contains
clocks from a number of manufacturers:
Rhythm, Howard Miller, Hermle, and
Hentschel. One private-label grandfather
clock made by Indianapolis jewelers,
Julius C. Walk & Sons, in 1900, boasts
a six-tube tubular bell, something you
won’t find anywhere. “We won’t part with
it, even though we’ve had many offers,”
say the owners.
Two other limited edition grandfather
clocks of note by Ridgeway include one

16

Sharon Van Tassel and Bailey

commemorating the Statue of Liberty’s
centennial, and another commemorating the Battle of the Victory at Yorktown’s bicentennial. The latter is the only
one of 1,981 left for sale anywhere in a
retail shop.
The Noblesville Clock Company plans to
commemorate its own milestone next
fall—50 years in business. So whether
you want to while away a few hours
admiring the place in the near future, or
whether you would like to put their anniversary celebration on your to-do list,
the Van Tassels are eager to meet you.
Despite their often chockful work schedule, they’ve got plenty of “time” on their
hands. HCBM

December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

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“Consider the reality of today’s job market. We have a massive skills gap. Even with record unemployment,
millions of skilled jobs are unfilled because no one is trained or willing to do them. Meanwhile unemployment among college graduates is at an all-time high, and the majority of those graduates with jobs are not
even working in their field of study. Plus, they owe a trillion dollars in student loans. A trillion! And still,
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a PR campaign designed to reinvigorate the skilled trades

hile Hamilton
County has,
for the most part,
recovered from the
housing crisis of 2008,
one industry continues to
feel the impact of it every day: the construction industry.
When the crisis cloud began to lift, and
consumers began to buy homes
again, one thing became very
clear: the workforce that had once
carried rebar and poured foundations was significantly reduced in
size. “Those construction workers who were mid- or end-career
range either retired or found a
new job and did not return,” said
Don Chesney, vice president of
operations for Arbor Homes. “And
the younger generation isn’t showing up asking for a job.”
In a county known for its new
construction and constant growth, that is
a significant issue. Nationally, 80 percent
of construction businesses report having
issues filling skilled labor positions, and
Hamilton County reflects that trend. As a
matter of fact, it may be more deeply felt
in this county of high affluence coupled
18

with schools that prepare students for
four-year college programs and whitecollar jobs.
“We definitely feel it with our trade
partners,” said Nigel Hoss of Hoss Homes.
“There are not enough workers to complete the homes we can sell. We constantly fight to be efficient. We are limited to
taking on the work we can handle. ”

away on its own,” said Jason Ells, senior
vice president of sales and business development and a board member for the
Builders Association of Greater Indianapolis (BAGI). “Clarity comes from action.”
And so began BAGI’s quest to find a solution to the issue. “We thought this was a
very valuable and necessary initiative for
our members to pursue,” said Steve Lains,
BAGI’s CEO. “Anytime our membership
is experiencing an issue that impacts its
ability to meet the demand for new construction, we are going to do everything
in our power to find a solution.”
“We began talking with schools and colleges about our shortage of workers,” said
Ells. “We wanted to work with them in
attracting students to explore the skilled
trades as a career option.”

Dispelling myths
These frustrations with a lagging workforce are a common theme of discussion
in the industry, from national trade publications to gatherings of Central Indiana
builders. “We began to see a systemic
problem, and one that wasn’t just going

That meant dispelling some myths commonly associated with construction work.
“It’s no longer a ‘hammers and whistle at
girls’ job,” said Chesney. “There are many
facets of construction today – from planning and design to structural engineers
and electricians.”
While many schools were receptive to
the concept, Ells said they found a significant partner with Westfield Washington

December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Schools. “They weren’t just interested, but
willing to put energy behind the initiative.
They saw the value in it, not just for their
current students, but also for college graduates who weren’t finding jobs,” said Ells.

Seeking talent
The result of those discussions that began
a year ago is BAGI’s recently introduced
initiative, “From the Ground Up: Building
a Better Future.” The program aggressively
addresses the myths and facts of skilled
trades, according to Stephanie Vondersaar,
a counselor at Westfield High School who
participated in the collaborative effort.
“There has been a great misunderstanding
about the building trades,” she said. “We
see a number of students who haven’t identified a career beyond attending college for
four years. This initiative is about educat• A graph of homebuilding career paths
ing them beyond the college experience.”
showing how a high school student can
That education began when “From the
effectively move to senior manageGround Up” was unveiled at a Westfield
ment over the course of time
High School career fair in September. In a
Ells is hopeful that BAGI’s “From the
school of 2,200 students, that sort of audiGround Up” initiative will change the
ence carries significant impact. Collateral
tide to re-direct young talent to Central
educational materials about the homebuilding industry offer a chronological look Indiana’s building trades. Throughout the
course of the next several
months, Ells and his fellow
BAGI members will be in
Nationally, 80 percent of
attendance at area school
fairs, spreading the
construction businesses report career
word to youngsters that
having issues filling skilled labor there are lucrative careers
that they may not have
positions, and Hamilton County considered. (The next career
fair is set for December 8
at Sheridan High School.
reflects that trend.
Hosted by the Sheridan
Youth Assistance Program,
the fair will welcome more than 500 stuat home building through planning, construction and finishing. In addition, it offers dents from Sheridan, Hamilton Heights,
Tipton, and Clinton Central.)
some tantalizing factoids, including:
Said Ells, “I strongly believe that attending a four-year college isn’t the only path
to success for our young adults. A career
in a skilled trade can be just as rewarding in terms of personal happiness and
• A fireplace specialist needs only a high
financial reward, but who’s sharing that
school diploma or GED, yet starting salfact with our middle school and high
ary is around $50,000 annually
school students these days? While Mike
• A drywall contractor (with a high
Rowe is doing a stand-up job, more of us
school diploma or GED and apprentice- could be spreading the word and opening
ship) can make up to $120,000 annually eyes to the fact that there are more opportunities out there than four-plus years
• 80% of new skilled-trade jobs require
of college debt and a desk job.” HCBM
less than a year of schooling
• The average starting salary in skilled
trades is $48,110 (compared to education at $33,800 and business at
$41,200)

December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Gordon Insurance, headquartered here in
Hamilton County, is among the nationÕs most
prestigious insurance agencies Ñ specializing
in designing custom life insurance programs
and business strategies utilizing over 20 of the
industryÕs most select companies.

Buy-Sell Agreements
Key Person Life
Worker Compensation

10

Things to Know About
Say It For You and
Blogging for Business

1. “Say It For You has been instrumental in
dramatically increasing traffic to our website for
several years.” 2. “Rhoda’s service of writing
blogs for you is like finding a gold mine. Being
the best at what you do means you don’t have
time (or maybe the skills) to keep up with all of
the things that are on the leading edge of marketing and sales.” 3. “When I hired Say It For
You, I expected high quality writing that was optimized for search engines. I got that and more!”
4. “Say It For You is our ‘voice’ to our clients,
and blog marketing is an important part of our
overall strategy.” 5. “Say It For You adds condiments, spices, and flavoring to my work.” 6.
“The Say It For You team not only contributes
regular blog posts, but is a great contributor to
our overall effort.” 7. “We’ve been very happy with the team, the quality of the blog writing, and the search engine results.” 8. “I was
so pleased by how quickly our Say It For You
ghost blogger was able to gain a deep understanding of our profession and what we wanted
to communicate.” 9. “The Say It For You blog
has been a big driving factor in referrals as well,
driving in about 1/3 of traffic each month.” 10.
“So well has she been able to capture the concepts I want to convey to my readers and clients, she has begun to sound like me.”
10 more numbers to know: 317 250 3569
1 more thing to know: www.sayitforyou.net
produces e-newsletters and nurturing email
campaigns.

19

Finding the Profit in
Web entrepreneur says it can be done
By Mike Corbett
Consumers continue to flock to the internet to shop, as online retailers drive prices
down and selection up. A local entrepreneur
is taking that pricing strategy to the limit:
driving prices down to…free. The selection may be a bit limited right now but that
could change quickly.
Meet Trevor Totten, a Purdue grad from
Westfield, who thinks he’s hatched the ultimate internet selling machine: free merchandise made available by manufacturers
as a sort of sampling website. Think of it as
an online business expo, except you only
visit the booths you are interested in, you
don’t have to endure a lame sales pitch, and
you only fill your bag with products you will
really use. Don’t expect to find a chip clip
here, unless you really need one.

requires a credit card to register,
though it “will NEVER be charged.”

Self-taught web designer
Totten tells the story of how this idea
came to him. He credits three hours
of forced thinking time aboard an
airplane after forgetting to pick up
reading material at the airport. He
continued to refine the idea and two
years ago started his own company,
called Critical Achievement, to
develop it. He found and purchased
the domain gladli.com, which was
previously used to promote an anime
character called “Glad Li.” He proceeded to teach himself how to code.

Using his engineering background
and rudimentary knowledge of
The cooldown
programming, Totten started with a
Wordpress website and began to cusTotten is betting that manufacturers will
tomize it, learning coding languages
pay for the opportunity to give away one or
along the way. He estimates he now
more of their products to potential customhas about 30,000 lines of custom
ers in the hope that once the customers
Sample Gladli Home Page. Manufacturers indicated
code on his site and has applied for a
try it, they’ll be more likely to buy more of it. have not actually committed to the site.
patent for the business model. He’s run
He envisions a marketplace of thousands of
the idea by “hundreds of smart people,” and believes it is now
consumer items, all provided by manufacturers free of charge,
“fully developed” and ready for market.
and who are willing to pay him to find new prospects. Totten
calls the site “Gladli”, as in “We’ll gladly let you try our product
Which isn’t exactly the same as being up and running. The webfor free.”
site is currently in pre-launch mode. If you visit the Gladli home
But, how to counter the deadly sin of
page you have the opportunity to register as a business or a congluttony? As anyone who has ever
sumer but marketplace pages aren’t yet available. Totten’s goal is
dined at an “all you can eat buffet”
to land 20 businesses to launch. Once the site is populated with
knows, when something is free, people
some merchandise, he will “flip the switch” to post-launch mode
inevitably take more than they can use. and welcome the public in to start sampling.
Totten has a plan for that, and he calls
It’s a leap of faith for the young entrepreneur. After six years
it a “cooldown.” Consumers initially are
working as an engineer
limited to just one free product
and project manager, he
per week. That way, he says,
quit his job last year to
“You’re motivated to only select
Don’t
expect
to
find
a
work on Gladli full time.
Trevor Totten
products you are genuinely inHe’s doing the coding
terested in. Otherwise, you are just wasting your precious
chip clip here, unless
himself to keep costs down
selections.” That’s also an advantage for the businesses, he
and has a patent pendyou really need one.
says, because people who are really interested in a product
ing on the software. He’s
are more likely to buy it later.
had face time with local
Identity verification is also an integral part of the sysbusiness leaders and now
has “a professional, modern, highly-customized website…that is
tem. Totten isn’t sharing details about how he does it, but says
ready for market.” The business model, he says, “is new, exciting,
verifying a person’s identity is important to prevent fraud, like
and most importantly, rock solid.” HCBM
opening multiple accounts to receive multiple products. He also
20

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December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

21

Roundabout

A Summary of Recent Retail Activity
By Samantha Hyde

NORTHERN HAMILTON
COUNTY
Good Ole Days Antiques has opened
at 24260 SR 37. In Cicero, Spring Valley
Storage is expanding at 21335 SR 19. The
former Marathon gas station at 1010 S.
Peru St. has reopened as a Shell station.
A new restaurant and bar, Corner Tap, is
moving into 90 W. Jackson St.

FISHERS
Fishers Town Center on 116th has lost
Pat’s Philly Pretzels but will soon
welcome B B Nails and Spa. B’Dazzled
Boutique has moved into 8777 E. 116th
St. Boutique Lily and Sparrow and salon
Makefresh on Maple are relocating
from 11720 Maple St. to 8890 E. 116th St.
Rhodes Insurance is coming to 11717
Lantern Rd.

First Community Mortgage has a new
office at 16095 Prosperity Dr. DentalOne is
opening soon at 17535 Terry Lee Crossing.
Mooyah Burgers closed on Mercantile
Blvd. Verdure Sciences is building a new
headquarters in Metro Enterprise Park.

Potbelly Sandwich Shop is coming to
12831 Campus Pkwy. Suburban Home
Health is moving its home office to 14297
Bergen Blvd. Fit4Mom and uPaint Pottery Studio are now open at Hamilton
CARMEL
Berkshire Hathaway Home Services
Town Center, while Paradise Bakery &
Body Sculpting Med Spa and restaurant Indiana Realty has opened two Hamilton Café recently closed.
County offices, at 10765 Lantern Rd. and
The Lit Moose have recently opened in
in Carmel at 11711 N. Pennsylvania St.
the Village of WestClay. A St. Vincent
WESTFIELD
Medical Group Internal Medicine office Alliance Chiropractic recently opened
Chatham Hill, a new golf club with an
has opened at 14350 N. Meridian St. 18/8 at 8880 Fitness Ln.
18-hole course, is now open at 20298
Fine Men’s Salon opens at the end of
Sparx Athletic Refinery opened in
Tomlinson Rd. Grand Junction Brewing
November in Clay Terrace.
November at 12800 Ford Dr. Superior
Company is expanding with plans for a
PNC Bank opened a branch inside Market Van is moving into 13095 Parkside Dr.
tasting room and production facility at
Action Air is coming to 9055 E. 133rd
District. La Hacienda restaurant is mov1189 W. 181st St.
Pl. Long’s Mattress has a new store at
ing across US 31 to 12480 N. Meridian St.
Perennials Plus at 4510 W. 166th St. is
13910 Olivia Way.
Blanton Hufford & Associates is openundergoing an expansion. ICE Indiaing an office at 645 W. Carmel Dr. Accent’ Simply Dental is under construction at
napolis has opened at 17435 Tiller Ct.
Bicycles is new to Monon Square.
12240 E. 116th St. NerdyGirl Cupcakes
has a new shop at 12660 E. 116th St. A
new 9,100 SF retail building and Starbucks are going in at Village at Geist at
116th & Olio.

NOBLESVILLE
Cones Creamery
Martin Gallery of Fine Art is now open
at the Indiana Design Center. Zeke’s Hot
Chicken has closed at 1315 S. Range Line
Rd, as has Brides of Carmel at Carmel
City Center. The first of several planned
Cones Creamery locations is now open
at 5790 E. Main St.
Enterprise Rental Car is building a new
office at 4400 E. 96th St. Midwest Bankers is moving to 9745 Randall Dr. The
former Macaroni Grill at 2375 E. 116th
St. is being converted into Indiana’s first
Rodizio Grill. New Anytime Fitness
and St. Vincent Urgent Care locations
are coming to Hazel Dell south of 126th.
Smile Centric and Greenwood-based
Raelynn’s Boutique are opening new
locations at 14560 River Rd.
22

500 North Boutique is now open at 23
S. 8th St. Orthodynamics is doubling the
size of their office at 155 Carey Dr. Town
Square Medical Clinic is accepting
walk-ins at 509 Sheridan Rd. Anytime
Fitness has moved into 158 W. Logan St.

IU Health’s new Noble West Medical
Office Building is under construction at
14645 Hazel Dell Rd. Storage Depot is
building 129,000 SF of new self-storage
space at 5588 E. 146th St. Indy Custom
Cabinets has opened at 14660 Herriman
Blvd. Spectra Tech is building a new
warehouse and headquarters at 15230
Endeavor Dr.

Carter’s Play Place
Automatic Pool Covers is adding 40,000
SF to its facility at 17397 Oak Ridge Rd.
Carter’s Play Place is now open at 17219
Foundation Pkwy. Kolton Blickenstaff
has opened a new State Farm office at 516
E SR 32. Noble Roman’s Craft Pizza &
Pub is coming to The Monon Marketplace.
Obstetrics & Gynecology of Indiana
is opening an office at 380 S. Junction
Crossing. The former Collision Cure
Body Werks at 17549 Gunther Blvd has
reopened as Gerber Collision & Glass.
Engineering and construction firm Haley
& Aldrich is opening a new office at
14767 Oak Rd. The Don Pablo’s restaurant at 14758 Greyhound Plaza has closed.
Carter’s Osh Kosh and Fort Waynebased Louie’s Tux Shop have opened
shops in Village Park Plaza. HCBM

December 2016 • January 2017 • Hamilton County Business Magazine

Notes from all over the county
Terry Anker, president of Legacy Fund
since 2011, announced he will leave his
position in March after 5 years at the
helm.
Jane Hunter retired as Executive DirecKim Compton
tor of the Northern Hamilton County
Chamber of Commerce, where she served
for 16 years.
Paul Munoz left for a position in the private sector after serving seven years as
Cicero/Jackson Township Plan Director.
Toby Stark is retiring as Executive Director of Chaucie’s Place after six years.
The American Bankers Association
awarded Gene Miles, President and CEO
of First Farmers Bank & Trust, with the
Bruning Award, its premiere award and
designation for agricultural banking.
Westfield Premier Physicians is opening in Westfield as one of Indiana’s first
“Direct Primary Care” family physician
practices. The group will not accept
insurance. Instead, patients purchase one
of three Care Packages for a fee, which
is meant to improve the patient-doctor
relationship.

Kim Compton, Cicero,
joined The Farmers Bank,
as Vice President of
Information Technology/
Operations.
Jennifer Batley was
named senior vice
president of Walker
Information.

Purgatory Golf Club
unveiled an 11-foot tall,
signature statue designed
local artist Scott Westphal.
The aluminum sculpture
is positioned behind the
first tee and depicts
Purgatory’s logo.
Purgatory Golf Club

Jennifer Batley

Westfield was named the best small
city in America by WalletHub. Analysts
compared 1,268 cities with populations
between 25,000 and 100,000 based on 30
key indicators of livability like “housing
costs,” “school-system quality” and “number of restaurants per capita.” HCBM

Pitch-In
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Contact Mike Corbett 317.774.7747
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Jamaican Reggae Grill
hen Eldon Chuck left the corporate world
in 2012 he wasn’t envisioning a future spent
playing golf with his buddies.
“I was thinking I was still fairly young and not at
a point where I wanted full
retirement,” Chuck said. “But I knew
I didn’t want to go back to work for
someone else so the choices were to
start another company or do something more hands on and something
I enjoyed.”
He knew his friends always enjoyed
the Jamaican food he cooked up
for gatherings at his home so his
thoughts turned to opening a small
restaurant featuring the food of
his childhood in Jamaica. Food he
learned to cook helping his grandmother in the kitchen.

By Chris Bavender
Photos by John Wright

chip cookies and those (cookies) are my wife’s grandma’s secret
recipe – I don’t even know how to make them. We have people
come in and ask for them all the time.”
Oxtail is another popular item but only served on Friday and
Saturday since it’s difficult to come by,
Chuck said.
“We go through a lot of that in two
days,” he said. “I’d like to sell it six days a
week if I could.”

Comfort food
And while he can’t cook a pig the
traditional Jamaican way in a pit with
pimento leaves, he has found a way to
replicate it using a convection oven.

“The secret is we use bay leaves which
are a very close cousin to pimento
Reggae Grill staff (l to r) Kim Watson, Jay Ann McPherson,
leaves,” he said. “So we can soak bay
Eldon Chuck, Matthew Chuck, Maryann Chuck.
leaves in water and put on jerk and it
So, in April 2015, he and his wife,
gives it the same flavor - that smoky
Maryann, opened the Jamaican Reggae Grill in the Monon
flavor. So, now everyone knows my secret!”
Square Shopping Center
Chuck calls the menu at Jamaican Reggae Grill “comfort food.”
in Carmel.
“If you look at the essence of Jamaican food the basis of the
“When we first opened we thought our sales would be within a
meal is very starchy. In a typical dish you get rice, meat, and
10 to 15 mile radius but we have people coming from Greencabbage with a little mix of carrots and then fried
field, Greenwood, South Bend – just all over,”
plantain,” he said. “Meat is a very expensive comthe 57-year-old said. “Even to this day we still
modity
in Jamaica so most households augment
get many first time visitors which is amazing.”
by adding more starch. So when I say comfort
maybe a better word would be bellyful since you
Laid back chic
feel full because of the starch.”
Jamaican Reggae Grill can comfortably seat 30
With business booming, Chuck has contemplated
inside and another 36 outside. Planned garden
expanding.
seating for 2017 will double that number.
“People keep saying this is so good but they can
The décor is a blend of colors typically found
only
come
here
once in a while because they live east or way
in Jamaican restaurants – yellow, green and black – mixed in
north,
”
he
said.
“So,
do we get a food truck to reach more people
with earthy colors. A huge mural overlooking the servers’ area
in
different
places
instead
of settling on a location that might
depicts the evolution of reggae music.
not be as good maybe as the one we have? A food truck is mo“The vibe we are trying to portray is laid back chic more or less,”
bile so if it’s not working in one place we can move it to another.”
Chuck said. “A place you can come and relax and eat good food
No matter what the future brings Chuck knows one thing for
and listen to some good chillin’ reggae music.”
sure—his venture into the restaurant business has been a labor
All while eating authentic food prepared by Chuck and his wife
of love.
and their son, Matt.
“It’s been amazing,” he said. “The work has been much more than
“I would say our best sellers are the curried goat, jerk chicken,
I thought it would be but we have so many possibilities because
jerk pork and jerk wings,” he said. “The sandwiches are popular
we have been so well received. It’s getting very interesting!” HCBM
too and the patties. Then there is our rum bread and chocolate

DECEMBER 2016
December 7th 11:30am to 1:00pm
CHAMBER HOLIDAY LUNCHEON
Purgatory Golf Club
December 9th 7:30am to 9:00am
ALL COUNTY LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST SERIES
State House Legislative Session Preview
Connor Prairie

JANUARY 2017
January 13th 7:30am to 9:00am
ALL COUNTY LEGISLATIVE BREAKFAST SERIES
Connor Prairie
January 18th 6:30pm to 8:00pm
ART OF BUSINESS – BUSINESS OF ART SERIES
Storytelling to build your brand/business
Hamilton East Public Library
January 25th 11:30am to 1:00pm
STATE OF THE COUNTY LUNCHEON
Purgatory Golf Club
January (TBD)
MARKETING SUMMIT
Ivy Tech - Noblesville Campus

Join us for a great lunch and the chance
to learn about the many priorities and
projects underway in Hamilton County.
Corporate tables available. Public is
welcome with advance registration.
Call 317-773-0086

MARCH 2, 2017 • 4:00pm-7:30pm
HAMILTON COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS EXPO HALL
80 Business Showcases • 10 Restaurants
10 Community Organizations
All showing off the best Noblesville has to offer
NEW in 2017 Made in Noblesville Showcases

THANK YOU!
2016 CORPORATE PARTNERS
— Legacy —

— Executive —

— Presenting —

— Tech Tuesday Sponsor —

If you would like information on the 2017 Corporate Partner
Program please contact our office at 773-0086.

OneZone, a Hamilton County chamber, serves the Central Indiana business community by reaching
across municipal boundaries - just the way business does - to deliver more opportunities and more
impact more efficiently. Commerce. Connected.

December Luncheon:
Annual Business Excellence Awards
Join us to recognize companies and
individuals for business excellence
and impact.

Wed., Dec. 14

11:30 am to 1 pm
Ritz Charles

Awards presented for business of
the year, young professional of the
year, green, new construction and
renovation projects, volunteerism
and lifetime achievement.

NHCCC October Joint Luncheon
With Tipton County Chamber
At Beck’s Hybrids
Bruce Kettler gave us an overview on Beck’s Hybrids telling
us that Beck’s Hybrids is the largest family-owned, retail
seed company in the United States, serving farmers in
Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, southern Michigan, western Kentucky,
Tennessee, Iowa,
southern Wisconsin and
Missouri. Kettler said,
“Beck’s understands what
farmers need, because
we’re farmers, too.” As
the largest family-owned
seed company, Beck’s has
access to the best genetics
and trait technologies
from suppliers
worldwide.

We are happy to announce our new program, Chamber Innovation, has begun
a partnership with Westfield Schools and
Purdue Polytechnic - Kokomo. This program
will be a source to create opportunities for students
in technology, innovation, engineering, and many
more areas. In addition, this program will connect
with the business community to initiate internships
for high school students allowing for them to find their passion and possible
career path.
“We are excited that this Chamber program has two amazing partners to
further the ability for students to take a passion or idea and turn it into reality,”
states Jack Russell, President of the Westfield Chamber of Commerce.
All three entities will host seminars and there will be additional opportunities
for businesses through this new program as well.

WESTFIELD

Membership Luncheons

The Westfield Chamber of Commerce and the Westfield
Washington Public Library have partnered to create a
new program called Books & Business. The tag line is
“Where Community and Business Connect.”
The program will bring businesses to the library to present and discuss topics
such as health, finances, and more. Westfield Chamber of Commerce President
Jack Russell said, “This partnership gives our businesses a way to give back
and present and discuss topics they have knowledge and passion about, while
providing a service to citizens in the community.”
Westfield Washington Public Library Director Sheryl Sollars said, “I’m very excited about this partnership; this will allow our library to be a place to connect
the Westfield community members and the business community.”
WWPL is the place where the Westfield community gathers and the WCoC has
connections with the businesses and together a service will be provided to
the citizens of Westfield that will give them an opportunity to gain from the
business community’s knowledge and expertise on a myriad of topics.

The Battle of Mudsock was a national sensation
his year is the 135th
anniversary of the
“Battle of Mudsock.” I mentioned this event a couple of
years ago in an article about
early Fishers and in a later article
about grave robbing in Indiana. However,
I’ve done some more research and found
that it was even larger than I originally
thought. A fistfight between two men in the
fall of 1881 snowballed into an explosion
of violence that left one person dead, 32
injured, and caused the destruction of
two buildings. And it was all because of
the new economic growth in the area.
Unfortunately, there are no records
at the courthouse—the county court
records only go back to January of 1882.
However, the story was picked up by
newspapers all over the country. So, this
information is drawn from a great many
news accounts which can vary widely.
The town got a reputation for violence
which started almost immediately after
its founding in 1872. At an 1875 shooting
competition, James Redwine got into an
argument with Milford G. “Dick” Parsley
about who had won. Tempers flared and
Parsley drew his revolver and fired three
shots. Redwine died the next day, leaving a
widow and children. That was the peak of
violence in Fishers Station for a few years.
However, it remained a stopping place for
drifters and rowdies.

The battle
The two saloons where the brawl occurred
were on the south side of the plank road
(116th Street), with one on the east side of
the tracks and one on the west side of the

tracks. The western saloon was run by the
Farrell brothers, Edward and Andrew, who
had emigrated from Ireland in 1850 as
small children. The eastern saloon was run
by Wade Hampton “Hamp” West, a Confederate army deserter who had drifted north
after the Civil War. Hamp West’s building
was in a low, swampy area of land and was
supported by pilings sunk into the muck. It
was known as the “saloon on poles.”

Adam Lynn’s blacksmith shop as a stable
hand and was a former Marion County
deputy sheriff. He had been forced to leave
Marion County a few months earlier when
he threatened a man for paying too much
attention to Fouch’s wife. He was known to
be particularly mean when he had a few
drinks in him.

George McCoy entered the saloon and
insulted Adam, probably in connection with the earlier fight, and was
beaten by Fouch and thrown out.
Soon after, he came back with
The town got a reputation for
Hamp West and Bob Dawson.
violence almost immediately
West allegedly gave a signal to
fight. However, Dawson and Mcafter its founding in 1872….
Coy were thrown out and West
was savagely beaten by Fouch and
The New York Times had an
the Lynns using brass knuckles
and pool cues. After a time, he was
article on page one titled
allowed to leave.

“A Fight Among Ruffians”.

The event started around noon on Saturday, November 19 in a low-key manner
(for Fishers) when two men got into a
fight—Barney Reinier, whose family owned
the land north of the plank road and west
of the railroad, and “Dutch Joe”, one of the
many anonymous drifters. It broke up
soon, but not before many people in town
picked sides. There were probably a lot of
old vendettas involved.
At the Farrell saloon a few hours later,
about 5 o’clock, Benjamin Fouch was playing billiards with the Lynn brothers, Daniel
and Wesley, while their brother Adam
Lynn watched. They were all rough characters—Fouch in particular. He worked in

West went back to his saloon by a
circuitous route—he crossed the
plank road going north, jumped
Rienier’s fence and washed in their pond,
cut through Mrs. Redwine’s yard, and then
down the alley behind W. H. Dixon’s house
and William Bolton’s house, and then back
across the plank road to his saloon. Dawson had already gotten back.
Fouch and the Lynns finished up their billiard game about an hour later and Henry
Justus decided to create more trouble by
suggesting that they go to West’s for a
drink. The group headed down the street
twice—once as far as the blacksmith shop
and once as far as Tucker’s drugstore. West
shut the front door and said the saloon was
closed. Then Dawson opened the door and
invited them in. West said he was done

with fighting and didn’t want
any more trouble.
Fouch was wearing his brass
knuckles and said he could
whip anyone in the house.
Dawson drew a knife and
slashed Daniel Lynn. A general
fight broke out, and the crowd
started throwing billiard balls.
In the midst of the general melee, West hit Fouch with a brass
beer faucet, killing him. Fouch
was carried first to Tucker’s
drugstore, then to the Redwine
boarding house where he
died that night. Tragically, the
boarding hose was run by the
widow of James Redwine, the
man who had been killed in
the 1875 shooting.
Fighting had continued at the
Farrell saloon where Elwood
Haworth and Thomas Perkins
attacked Andy Farrell. However, Farrell had armed himself
with a Colt Navy revolver.
Shots were exchanged but,
fortunately, no one was killed.
The Farrell saloon burned
down that night, whether by
accident or on purpose wasn’t
known. West’s was closed and
later reported destroyed.
The Sheriff arrived by railroad
handcar on the 20th and the
Coroner’s inquest ran from
the 20th to the 23rd. A grand
jury was convened and heard
testimony on November 29.
They handed down eighteen
indictments on December 3.
Although charged with the
murder of Fouch, Hamp West
was not indicted. The grand
jury felt that he had acted in
self-defense.

Profound impact
Why did Fishers become the
epicenter for this tragedy?
The main reason is that it was
a brand new railroad stop
with very little government
organization. A minister later
claimed that Salathiel Fisher
was going to forbid taverns
from being built in the town,
but died before he could

implement this. The rest of
county was strongly in favor
of the Temperance movement,
even to the point of having
night-riding vigilantes attack
saloons. Add to this that there
were apparently no law enforcement personnel in Delaware Township, and Fishers
ended up being the only place
that you could go to drink and
raise hell. If you’ve seen the
movie “Tombstone” or the TV
series “Deadwood”—that was
what Fishers was like.
The brawl hit the national
news. Since the gunfight at the
OK Corral had happened only
the month before, people were
paying attention to violent
incidents. The New York Times
had an article on page one titled “A Fight Among Ruffians.”
There was an editorial in the
New Orleans Times-Picayune
titled “Mudsock Matinee” that
called it a “brilliant battle.”
The event had a profound
impact on Hamilton County.
The people of the area became
more vigilant against saloons
and other places considered
detrimental to the community.
In 1882, a group of Westfield
women demolished a saloon
and set fire to the rubble. In
1883, a brothel in Noblesville
was burned to the ground by
a mob.
Fishers became less of a focus
after the Monon Railroad was
finished in 1882 and much of
the economic activity switched
to that side of the county.
Then the discovery of natural gas in 1887 caused major
changes in the population
of the county. There was still
some excitement coming out
of Fishers—it was the center of
a major grave robbing scandal
in 1902—but, by the end of the
First World War, it had begun
to settle into a quiet farming
community. HCBM
David Heighway is the
Hamilton County Historian.

Rotary brings together business
and professional leaders to provide
humanitarian service, encourage
high ethical standards in all
vocations, and help build goodwill
and peace in the world. Each club
meets weekly. For more information
on the Noblesville Midday Rotary
Club, contact President Dave
Carter, 765-639-4415

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company to enhance sustainability and decrease environmental impact.

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